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Baseball Matches Best Start Since 1994 with OVC-Opening Win

MSU Athletics

Morehead State's 2-6 batters in the lineup combined for nine hits and seven RBI as the Eagle baseball team opened Ohio Valley Conference play with a 7-5 victory at Tennessee Tech's Bush Stadium Saturday night.

Morehead State, which hasn't played a home game yet in 2015, improved to 7-3 overall and 1-0 in the conference. The victory marks MSU's fastest ascent to seven wins to open a season since 1994. Five of the wins have come by margins of two or less runs. TTU slipped to 5-6 overall and 0-1 in the league. It was the program's first victory at Tech since May 4, 2012.

"This was a great team win," Head Coach Mike McGuire said. "We have a lot of respect for Tennessee Tech. They have been the cream of the crop in this league for the past several years. We didn't play a perfect game by any means, but we have a battle-tested, veteran club, and we responded well to adversity."

Senior first baseman Kane Sweeney led the offense, which produced a season-best 13 hits, by going 3-for-5 with two RBI, while senior shortstop Robby Spencer and senior left-fielder Nick Newell added two hits each. Sweeney moved his hitting streak to five games, while he and Spencer have now reached base in all 10 games.

Senior right-fielder Brandon Rawe contributed two RBI, while senior catcher Chris Robinson scored a career-high four runs and smashed his first triple of the campaign.

Freshman left-hander Aaron Leasher was credited with his first collegiate victory. The Michigan native allowed just one hit and two runs in 1.2 innings in relief of right-handed starter Aaron Goe. Goe tossed the first five, scattered six hits and surrendered three earned runs. Junior closer Craig Pearcy retired the final four Golden Eagle hitters for his league-leading fourth save of the season.

Morehead State jumped on top 3-0 after three frames, but the host team tied the game on a two-run homer by Preseason OVC Player of the Year Dylan Bosheers in the fifth. David Allen ripped a two-out double off Goe just before Bosheer's bomb.

"We misjudged a ball in the outfield and let a guy get on, and then the next guy homers to tie it up," McGuire said. "But, our team didn't panic. We knew we had a lot of game left to make plays, and we did. We got a three-spot on the board in the seventh to get a nice lead, and Robby had a huge RBI single in the ninth to give us a cushion."

Sweeney belted an RBI double in the seventh, and Rawe plated a man with a ground out. Ryan Flick doubled home a pair to pull Tech to within 6-5 in the bottom of that frame, but Spencer knocked in Robinson with an insurance tally in the ninth.

The hosts finished with 10 hits. Catcher Jordan Hopkins, right-fielder Anthony El Chibani and first baseman Chase Chambers each had two apiece.

John Gora was saddled with the loss to fall to 0-3. The right-handed hurler gave up nine hits and five of the seven runs.

Game two of the series is set for 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. That has been pushed back one hour.

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